Provenance of heavy and clay minerals in bottom sediments of Green Lake, an Amazonian fluvial lake in Brazil

Proveniência de minerais pesados e argilominerais em sedimentos de fundo do Lago Verde, um lago fluvial amazônico no Brasil

ABSTRACT

Studies on provenance of minerals in Amazonian rivers focus mostly on suspended sediments, while processes that control bottom-sediment production and distribution are still little known. We determined the provenance of the bottom sediments of Green Lake, a micro-basin draining into the Tapajós River, in the eastern Brazilian Amazon. We used X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and, cathodoluminescence techniques to analyze clay, light and heavy minerals of 22 samples. The lake is L-shaped, with 5.5 m maximum depth, and predominance of mud over sand in the center. Quartz and feldspar were dominant in the light fraction, while zircon, tourmaline, kyanite, rutile, and staurolite were dominant in the heavy fraction. The clay fraction was dominated by kaolinite, with morphology and degree of crystallinity indicative of a detrital origin related to weathering. The Alter do Chão Formation (ACF) is suggested as the main source of sand sediments and heavy minerals, due to their mineralogical and percentage similarity. The provenance of kaolinite was mainly the ACF, with a minor contribution of the Amazon and Tapajós rivers. The primary origin of the heavy minerals in the ACF indicates the basement of the Amazonas Basin as source rock and this formation as a source of sediments for Green Lake through weathering and erosion processes under current tropical conditions. The presence of Aulacoseira granulata and Aulacoseira ambigua indicates the importance of current erosive processes on sediment production.

KEYWORDS: Alter do Chão Formation; lacustrine sediment; Amazon Basin; Santarém; mineral characterization